Scary Consumer Spending Habits During Halloween [Infographic]

October 22, 2015

6:00 pm

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When you think of Halloween, you probably think about dressing up in costume and collecting candy from neighbors in your area. When you are a business, you think about the beginning of fourth quarter spending and finishing the year on a high note.

What many businesses and brand don’t think of, is how much money they could be making off Halloween — but instead just what happens after the event, which is huge consumer spending days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and everyday leading up to Christmas.

Through this article and the Consumer Spending During Halloween infographic below, we are going to try and convince you that Halloween should be a main focus for every brand and business out there — either as a way to increase revenue, or to use it as an effective marketing tool for your brand.

The Not-So Surprising Numbers Behind Consumer Halloween Spending

We all know that Halloween is one of the most exciting events of the year, however, the majority of us really don’t know how much money is being spent every year on the event. After reading through the latest stats and figures reported by NRF, you will want to put your best advertising and business foot forward to make sure you make the most of the event in coming years.

It’s reported that over $6.9 billion dollars will be spent on Halloween this year. The make up of these numbers is much more than just Halloween costumes, and is made up of everything from candy, decorations, food and much more.

Over 157 million Americans plan on celebrating Halloween in one way or another this year. Of 157 million, 68 million of them plan on dressing up in costume, and 49 million plan to either attend or host a Halloween party of their own.

When it comes to Halloween costumes, that’s where the majority of money will be spent. While most people would think that children costumes would make up the majority of spending, it’s actually adult costumes that come in first place with $1.2 billion in costs. Children’s costumes will tally up to $950 million, while another $300 million are expected to be spent on pet costumes!

After all Halloween costume spending is done, the average person is looking at roughly $74 in spending costs. To see some of the most Googled Halloween costumes this year, be sure to check out this article.

As a brand and business, it’s not just about looking at the dollar amount, but also what inspires people to research and buy their Halloween costumes. 49% of millennials are using the internet to find and purchase creative and fun costume ideas, while only 34% will actually visit a local retail costume shop to make a purchase.

The internet is also the tool of choice for researching the best Halloween costumes ideas for the year. Since so many people are looking for attention grabbing costumes, most people are looking at social media and world trends to see what’s hot. Pop culture, celebrity news and viral superstars are always big winners each year.

The most popular social networks for not only research, but also to share pictures of costumes and Halloween decorations and ideas are Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram.

With so much activity leading up to the big event at the end of the month, you would think most people would have all of their purchases done at the beginning of the month. The actual numbers are that 4 out of 10 people will begin shopping for Halloween within the first two weeks of the month, while another 25% will wait until the last two weeks of the year to pick up any last minute candy, decorations or costumes.

Now that you can truly appreciate the massive amount of consumer spending that takes place every year at Halloween, don’t you think your business and brand should take part in it?